Utah says its road claims are about families, not wilderness

Utah officials in the midst of filing lawsuits to win thousands of disputed roads over federal lands said Tuesday that their quest is about protecting families, not paving wilderness. State and county officials are using an old congressional act granting local control of roads in continuous use for at least 10 years — a grant that Congress stopped making in 1976, leaving the state to prove that thousands of segments were in use before that time. It’s a case in which time is running out, partly because witnesses who can vouch for any historic use are dying. Utah Chief Deputy Attorney General John Swallow said at a news conference that the roads — in 25,000 segments crossing 45,000 miles — are important for family recreation and hunting, economic access to water and minerals, and desert safety. He disputed environmentalists’ charge that many of the roads aren’t roads at all, but rather single-use Jeep trails on dry creek beds that could never pass as the "highways" mentioned in law. "We will not be paving deer trails," Swallow said, but merely maintaining historic uses. State officials acknowledged that a few roads may prove to be mistakes, just as SUWA has said it has no issue with some others. But Swallow said the state, facing a June statute of limitations for filing these lawsuits, couldn’t wait to negotiate. "We are forced to take our legal remedy," he said, "and go to court."...more